Welcome to Our World
by chibifurby
Summary: A pony from the Royal Guard of Canterlot attempts to seek some answers from the Changelings. How far is he willing to go to find his answers? And what would come of it? Do NOT expect regular updates.
1. Chapter 1

Canterlot was arguably the safest place in all of Equestria, with the royal guard stationed around the city, magical protections, and Princess Celestia and Princess Luna keeping watch around the clock. The wilderness around Canterlot, on the other hand, not so much. After her ejection from Canterlot during the events of the royal wedding between Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and Shining Armor, the Queen of the Changelings and her subjects have taken residence in the forest they had landed in. Close to the city to prey on unfortunate travelers yet far enough away that they are out of the reach of any significant threat from the city. However, while their consumption of strong emotions was not a necessity to continue to live, their hunger was quite insatiable. Lone travelers were no where near enough to keep all of the Queen's subjects fed and content. The Queen had reluctantly allowed some of her Changelings to travel out, away from Canterlot and through Equestria, to find smaller sources of emotions in the outer lying cities, if only to gain enough strength to once again attempt to conquer Canterlot.

Sitting in a spacious clearing in the forest, the Queen found herself sitting on a bare patch of dirt amidst the sea of grass as she grudgingly allowed a small party of her Changlings to venture ever further from Canterlot to infiltrate and feed on a fairly small village. While she called herself a Queen, she never found the need or time for vanity, her one and only concern was to gain power and find a source of emotion strong enough to strengthen her Changelings. It was a taxing task but it was for her kind and, being the strongest Changeling, the Queen took it upon herself to lead. She didn't need a throne or fancy wares to lead, so she had none of them. The only thing she needed was an emotion as strong as Shining Armor's love for Princess Cadenza so she may strengthen herself and take over Canterlot and it infuriated her that her previous attempt was thwarted by a mere, young pony.

The Queen's mental tirade against the young unicorn pony was then suddenly interrupted by a scuffle just on the edge of the clearing. Confused and yet irritated that her Changelings were fighting with one another, the Queen stood up and trotted over to the commotion to investigate. When she got close, however, she found her Changelings pinning a male pegasus pony to the ground, trying to keep him under control. While she only saw this as a rather unneeded nuisance and would have so gladly ignored this turn of events, the Queen put on her "evil" sneer and looked down at the pony with as much condescension as she could muster, which was quite a lot.

"Well well…what do we have here?" She kept a playful, almost sultry tone in her voice, and as soon as she spoke the pony looked up from where he lay and stopped struggling against his captors.

The stallion was an ordinary, white colored pony, admirable wings on his side, but what was the most noticeable was the golden armor and helmet he wore. It was one of the royal guards from the city, which the Queen immediately realized.

When the pony didn't reply to the Queen's probing question, she asked another. "Why is a pony such as yourself alone and so far from home? Or, let me guess, Celestia sent you to keep an eye on me?" Again the pony didn't speak, and the Queen let out a small, humorless laugh. "Of course she did…" The Queen paced back and forth in front of the stallion, head cocked to the side as if she were trying to make a decision. As if to emphasis this point, she posed her next question, to no one in particular. "So…what should I do with you…?"

"I didn't come on the Princess' orders…" The pony's voice came out and the Queen paused in her pacing, looking down at him. His voice was lower than the normal pony, though not so low as to be entirely unsettling. It didn't hold a jovial and somewhat sing-song tone that most ponies had throughout Equestria. But the fact that the pony DID talk peaked the Queen's interest.

"Oh?" She leaned her head down so that their noses almost touched and gave a delicate hiss behind her words. "And why did you come into my domain then, hm?"

The stallion didn't flinch when the Queen leaned in and stared back at her all the while. She found the stallion's hard look slightly disconcerting. This was definitely not one of those normally found in Equestria that was for sure. And her thoughts on the matter were only amplified by the stallion's next words. "I came to talk to you."

The Queen looked down at the stallion for a long while. Then, with a nod of her head, she motioned for her Changelings to release the stallion, allowing him to stand up. Once he was standing, the Queen looked down on the stallion from atop her tall neck. "Then speak…"

The stallion cleared his throat a little before beginning. "My name is Cedric. And like I said I just want to talk, to you, Queen…" He paused. Not once, while the Queen was in Canterlot, did she actually say anything about herself other than her title.

Cedric's hesitation earned him a calculating stare from the Changeling Queen before she answered his pause. "Chrysalis…you may call me Queen Chrysalis."

"Queen Chrysalis, then. I wanted to just…talk."

Chrysalis raised an eyebrow at that. "Just…talk? Why, in all of Equestria, would you come all this way to find me, simply to just…talk?"

"To understand you, my queen-"

"I am not YOUR queen…" Chrysalis cut in, though her curt retort quickly turned sultry, almost inviting. "Though I can be, if that is what you desire." Her alluring smile eventually faded when Cedric showed minimal response to her "invitation". "You're a rather dull pony aren't you…?" She rolled her eyes. "Continue…"

"I just wanted to understand why you wanted to take over Canterlot. You said that Changelings feed on strong emotions, and that Canterlot possesses the greatest amount of love in a single location that you've seen."

"Correct, Canterlot has enough love to feed my Changeling army, enough to strengthen them and make our numbers grow." Chrysalis felt proud of how dramatic she made that sound, as if inferring impending doom.

Cedric, however, did not seem fully convinced. "Is that all? To…feed your Changelings?"

Chrysalis' train of impending doom and gloom was rather derailed. "…What do you mean, "Is that all"?"

Cedric shrugged slightly. "Wanting to take Canterlot because it has what you require for nourishment…It doesn't sound very "evil"..."

Chrysalis went straight back, like she was offended by the statement. "Well I never CLAIMED to be "evil", now did I? Now we might not necessarily starve without feeding on strong emotions, but it is a desire that we can not shake."  
"But you siphoned Shining Armor's magic from him…wouldn't that be…harmful to any pony you decide to feed on?"

Chrysalis narrowed her eyes at the stallion. "Weren't you the one who just said it didn't sound "evil"?" When Cedric gave a non-committal shrug, she sighed. "We CAN siphon magic from our prey but it's not cause and effect. I drained Shining Armor's magic to weaken the barrier around Canterlot and strengthen myself. By the sun and moon, I wouldn't even have to entrance him like I did if I didn't have to."

Cedric nodded a little. "So…it's not a parasitic relationship."

"Of course not!" Chrysalis spat. "Yes, our feeding leaves our prey vulnerable to us but whether we do more than feed is up to us. If it was, you would be seeing a lot of missing travelers as of late."

"You've been feeding on travelers?" Cedric was a little taken aback by the news. Ever since Chrysalis' removal from Canterlot, there had been no indication that she was still up to anything.

"As I said our appetite is insatiable. We will take what we can get. And it wouldn't do us good if anyone found out about it, no would it?"

Cedric shook his head. "I guess not…But then why do it in hiding? So secretively?"

Chrysalis rolled her eyes. "Oh please. You were at the wedding, weren't you?" When Cedric nodded, she continued. "You saw Twilight Sparkle's declaration and you saw the guests' reaction. We Changelings are feared. We aren't "normal" ponies after all."

Cedric nodded. "That's true…"

Chrysalis scowled at how quickly he was agreeing with her "not normal ponies" statement. "Unfortunately as time passes we end up becoming what the public believes us to be. We can't walk through a city in our normal forms without exciting the population against us. We're forced to employ underhanded methods, trickery and deception, simply to fill our stomachs."

Cedric lowered his head in thought for a moment before looking back up at the Queen. "What if an agreement could be made? No trickery, no siphoning of magic, and you have your nourishment."

Chrysalis rolled her eyes. "As if a pony exists that would willingly do that." When her eyes laid once more on Cedric, seeing the look on his face made her realize what he was offering and she attempted to read him a little more carefully. "Surprisingly, you don't have much love about you…"

The stallion stood straight, head held high. "I love the princesses, and would sacrifice everything for their safety."

"Hm…" Chrysalis couldn't help but look just a little skeptical. "Be that as it may but that is not "love", merely "loyalty". Nevertheless it is not an emotion directed at me or any of my changelings. Emotions that are not expressed towards the feeder makes it taste…" she grimaced a little. "…Stale…and barely gives us a fraction of what we desire."

"Would something like loyalty work, though?"

Chrysalis shrugged, starting to get bored with all the questions. "Most likely, especially if it's a strong loyalty. It'd probably not as appetizing or filling as something as strong as love but in our position we're not entirely capable of being choosey." She had taken to muttering and pacing a little back and forth in front of the stallion while he watched her. Her Changelings had long since departed, seeing nothing endangering their queen and the conversation being rather dull at best. Again, it took Chrysalis a little while before she realized the hidden offer she was being given by Cedric. Her head snapped back to face the stallion. "What? You? You can't possibly be saying that you'd be willing to become loyal to me so that I can feed off your emotions. Your princesses wouldn't approve."

"Well a queen should be given more consideration than a princess, right?" Chrysalis ALMOST believed that but as Cedric shook his head, she realized it was just a facetious joke. "I am serving my princesses by offering my service to a concern they have been having. You're right, Changelings are feared and the princesses are taxed with finding a way to deal with the fear. If I can offer myself to alleviate some of the fear…then I am serving my princesses, whether they approve or not."

Chrysalis looked at Cedric for a very long time before a smile formed on her face. "Well then…welcome to our world…"


	2. Chapter 2

Ok, little note before we start. I HATE speech patterns. I try to make them as close as I can imagine but I'm just not good at that stuff. ALSO I'm very bad with colors, I can't tell which color should go with which. Both will become apparent as to why I say this. But other than that...Hi! Words came to me so I put them on paper to offer to you.

Oh and side note. Do not post "reviews" asking me to update a DIFFERENT series. I can't pull ideas out of my backside willy nilly no matter how much I wish. I will update ALL my stories when the ideas and inspiration hit me, not to mention the simply capability to put my ideas into words appear.

* * *

It was in the dead of night when Luna, who was doing her nightly routine of watching over the kingdom, spotted a lone pony walking through the gardens of the castle. She narrowed her eyes to try and make out who it was but a moment later the action was moot for the pony walked out into the light of the full moon above, the light reflecting off of his golden armor. Luna cocked her head in surprise. Most of the guards were in the barracks, asleep, and those who had night watch were stationed in the castle or on the walls, but not on the grounds themselves.

Deciding to investigate, Luna hopped off from the balcony she was standing on.

"You there, what art thou doing here at this time of night?"

The pony jumped a little in surprise and turned to see Luna landing beside him. Luna recognized him as one of the royal guards, Cedric if she recalled correctly…her sister was admittedly better at this than she was. "Princess Luna!" The pony quickly made a bow as he addressed the princess. "I'm sorry, I didn't know I wasn't allowed out here."

Luna raised an eyebrow. "There is nothing that says thee is restricted. I merely wished to know why. It is rather late, after all."

Relieved, and as if answering Luna, Cedric raised his head and looked at the full moon above. "On nights like this, when the moon is full and the night sky clear, I like to come outside to look at the moon."

Luna wrinkled her nose a little as she looked up at the moon too. "Why? There is nothing special about the moon…" She should know since she was there for a thousand years.

Cedric shook his head. "I disagree. The moon is a beautiful thing. The sun is just much too bright to look but the moon is just bright enough to give light and you can stare at it for as long as you like." He turned and gave a small smile to the princess. "Much like yourself."

Luna felt her cheeks redden and she coughed to try and regain the composure she lost in that moment. "Forgive me for saying but I do believe thou art merely speaking flattery."

"It's only flattery if I'm exaggerating."

Luna's cheeks reddened once more and it took longer for her to get rid of it this time. "I…thank you, for thy kind words, but I can not accept them."

Cedric nodded. "I understand. You are a princess and I am simple soldier."

Luna shook her head quickly. "T-thou art mistaken. If thy truly feels that way then nobility matters not." She looked at ground, raising a hoof to prevent her hair from falling into her eyes. "I…I fear I am simply not in a position to accept thy kind words."

Cedric hesitated, looking from Luna to the empty garden they occupied and then back to Luna. "If I may, princess…why not?"

Luna sighed and looked up at the moon. "Ever since I returned from being Nightmare Moon everypony has been…guarded around me. Not that I can blame them. I was quite…misguided. Until I can win back the feelings of my people…I can not afford to accept thy kind words."

"No one is perfect, princess. I believe anyone in your position would have done the same thing. As long as you don't forget that there are ponies that adore you then lesson learned, I'd say."

Luna smiled as she looked to Cedric. "Once again, I thank thee…thou art much too kind."

Cedric merely smiled. "Anyways…how are you, princess?"

Luna hesitated, wondering how much she should be indulging the guard. She didn't think it was right for a princess to be voicing her concerns to a guard. But then she reasoned she'd already said worse things in the past couple minutes so harmless talk couldn't hurt. Plus times have changed in the past thousand years and Celestia did seem quite talkative to the citizens of Equestria. "…Taxing, to be honest." she said finally, with a sigh. "Sister hath been very worried. Evils that have not been heard from for millennia have been reappearing. If it weren't for…Twilight Sparkle…" Luna had to force out the Unicorn pony's name. "I am almost sure that our world would have already ceased to exist as we know it."

Cedric looked at Luna for a long while. "Do you hate Twilight Sparkle?"

Luna seemed startled at the question for a moment. "Of course not. She is a remarkable young mare who hath preformed remarkable feats. But…" Luna sighed. "I do not believe she is ready for the responsibilities that my sister hath placed on her. She is often short sighted and doth not realize the importance of the tasks my sister presents her." Luna shuffled from one side to another. "The risks my sister puts the kingdom though when she assigns Twilight Sparkle a task…"

Cedric gave a small nod, a far off look appearing in his eyes as he seemed to think about something else. "Maybe you just need to trust in her judgment."

"I do believe thou art correct…" Luna sighed and looked back to the balcony she had been standing on before she had descended into the garden. "I…should return to my duties. I have a thousand years to make up for my sister...to repay her for my selfishness."

Cedric walked up a little closer to Luna. "If you wish…we can meet here again tomorrow, or during the day when you are no longer on duty."

Luna's smile returned. "I would like that very much. I thank thee for thy sweet offer." She extended her wings and flapped them once to gain altitude.

"Of course, princess."

Luna hesitated before looking back to Cedric. "Please, call me Luna…"

Cedric smiled and nodded. "I will then, Luna. Good night."

Luna couldn't help but smile, hearing her name spoken in a casual manner. "Good night…" And with that she turns away and flies back up to her balcony. When she landed, she turned back to see Cedric waving a hoof at her before heading back to the barracks, making her smile and wave back.

* * *

"Are you sure this is alright?"

Chrysalis rolled her eyes. "Wasn't it YOUR idea to seek me out?"

Cedric shifted from one side to another, rather uncomfortably. "I didn't think I'd be staying with you though."

Chrysalis shook her head in exasperation. "Did you think this would be a one day venture?" She turned away from the direction of Canterlot and started deeper into the forest. "If you truly want this to happen then I want this to happen correctly. If you're in even the slightest amount of doubt then I'd advise you to leave now."

Cedric took one last look at the city before turning and following the Changling. "No, you're right. I just can't help worrying."

Chrysalis looked at Cedric for a long while before her eyes softened. "The princesses are lucky to have a pony such as yourself looking after them."

"I'm sure some the other Changlings-"

"No." Chrysalis cut Cedric off before he could finish. "The other Changlings follow me because I am the strongest. If someone stronger were to appear they would challenge me and I would be, for lack of a better term, dethroned."

Cedric nodded a little as he digested this information. "I guess when you live in a community that relies on gaining strength, the strongest would rein supreme. But even the strong needs their support. Even a queen needs someone to lean on."

Chrysalis smirked. "That's why I have you, don't I?" Chrysalis patted Cedric on the head with a hoof. "Besides…years of persecution…I can't help but admit we have started to become what the rumors say about us. The more people fear us the more we need to sneak around, and the more we sneak around the more people fear us. The more the successful succeed the more it becomes obvious that someone is better at this than others, and naturally the less successful will follow. I've been hard pressed keeping the other Changlings from running wild."

"The princesses gained loyalty by thinking of the other ponies. But I guess if the hunger is really that insatiable then no one will listen to mere kind words. The strong lead not because they're capable and compassionate rulers, but capable hunters…the weak flock to the strong."

The queen smiled. "So you're already starting to learn." She sighed, her smile fading. "I do wish it was as simple as Celestia makes it out to be. I wouldn't be surprised it another Changling were to approach me soon and try and take my place after my failure at Canterlot." She blinked and looked at Cedric, who had been hanging on to every word she uttered. She coughed and straightened herself. "Were you another Changling I would be fearing for my position right now…"

Cedric hesitated before nodding. "Probably…but I don't believe that you expressing this makes you any weaker. Although I agree others may not see it like that. But if you ever do need to get things off your chest…"

Chrysalis patted Cedric on the head again, ruffling his mane. "You're almost cute when you care. But…thank you. I'll remember that in the future."

"But are you saying that NONE of the other Changlings are loyal to you for reasons other than you're strong?"

Chrysalis sighed, sitting down on her patch of dirt as they reached the clearing. "They exist…but they are few in number."

"What are they like?" Cedric sat himself down next to Chrysalis. "The Changlings loyal to you, I mean."

Chrysalis thought about it for a moment. "There are seven…I trust them to do what they feel is the best. One of them is the one in Canterlot right now."

"Are they strong?"

Chrysalis nodded her head. "In that they have more power than most Changlings yes but even compared to me their power is only a fraction of mine."

Cedric cocked his head to the side. "Then…what makes them follow you like they do?"

Chrysalis sighed. "I don't know. Maybe it's because when I look at them I don't see the usual hunger driven Changling. They're intelligent; they know that if we don't work together we'll all lose. Other than that I don't know the reason. But they've proven themselves many times and I trust them to know what they're doing."

Cedric rubbed a hoof under his chin, thinking it through. "Well…you said one of them is in Canterlot…where are the other six?"

* * *

"Twilight, hurry up, they're going to be here soon!"

The Unicorn pony gave a cry of exasperation, looking up from the book she was reading. "Spike, its only ponies moving to Ponyville. I don't see what the big deal is."

Spike hopped from one foot to the other, as if trying to convey how exciting it was. "Yeah, but six ponies at once? Ok ok I know it's not a BIG deal but everypony is going to be there. Ok maybe not EVERYPONY but-"

Twilight sighed, smacking her face on her book in her continued exasperation. "Spike, if you really want to see them then you go. I've got a lot of reading I need to catch up with." Twilight waited for a response and when none came she turned around to see the room empty except for herself and the door swinging close. The Unicorn pony rolled her eyes and flipped the page of her book with her horn to continue reading.

Spike ran through the streets of Ponyville, excited to see what kind of ponies would be moving into their little town. He was running so fast that he wasn't able to stop himself in time and ended up crashing into a white flank.

"Oh! Spike, dear, do watch where you're going."

Spike rubbed his head and looked up, his face a little red. "Oh, sorry Rarity. I was just in a hurry to go see the new ponies that were arriving today. Are you going to see them too?"

Rarity set down the straw basket she had been levitating behind her with her magic and adjusted the large sun hat on her head. "Me? I think not. I was just on my way back from buying some new supplies for a new dress I've been working on and I simply must get it done by tonight."

Spike scratched his head a little in thought. "Uh…why tonight?"

"Why, because it'll look absolutely gorgeous of course!" Rarity exclaimed.

"Please, Rarity. I don't want to show up alone." Spike clasped his hands together, begging the white Unicorn pony.

Rarity watched Spike plead for a moment before sighing. "Oh, alright." She levitated the purple dragon onto her back and picked up her basket the same way. As Spike cheered she trotted off, towards the train station.

As they reached the station, there were already several other ponies there already, waiting. Among them were Spike and Rarity's friends, the Earth ponies, Applejack and Pinkie Pie, as well as the Pegasus ponies, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. Or rather Rainbow Dash WAS there until she sped off into the skies.

"Where on Earth is Rainbow Dash going? Isn't she going to greet the new ponies?" Rarity asked as she approached her friends.

"She said something about wanting to make a good first impression…don't have a clue what she meant though." Applejack replied, watching the dot in the sky that was Rainbow Dash grow smaller and smaller.

"Ohohoh! Maybe she went to get some party supplies! And when the other ponies get here we'll throw them a surprise party!" Pinkie Pie shouted, jumping up and down in excitement. "Well lucky for her I always come prepared!" Out of no where, the pink pony pulled out party hats and tossed a hoof full of streamers into the air, letting them unravel and fall on top of everyone.

The group was silent a little before Applejack brushed the streamer that fell on her head off. "Somehow I don't think so, sugarcube." Turning to the other two ponies, she didn't notice Fluttershy muttering something quietly behind her. "So when do you think those ponies are coming?"

"Goodness knows…" Rarity set her basket down and started fishing through it for some materials and started using her magic to start threading some of them together. Again, Fluttershy's quiet words feel on deaf ears. "I do hope they arrive soon. I simply must get back to my shop to finish the dress I was designing."

"Maybe they're not coming!" Pinkie Pie gasped, cutting off what Fluttershy tried to interject. "Maybe this was all some big joke! Maybe-!"

"Uh…I don't think so, Pinkie." Applejack turned to Spike, who was still riding on Rarity's back. "Is Twilight not coming?"

Spike shook his head. "She said she fell behind on reading again."

"She should definitely get out more rather than staying cooped up in her house reading." Rarity said, shaking her head. When the others were glaring at her she put on an innocent face. "What?"

"You're one to talk, Rarity; you're always in your house making a whole bunch of outfits." Pinkie Pie put in, getting a nod from Applejack.

From behind, Fluttershy took a deep breath and shouted as loud as she could. "THEY'RE HERE!"

The others jumped in surprised and turned to face Fluttershy, who was blushing and covering her mouth with her hoofs as she kept herself flying in mid air. When Fluttershy noticed they weren't looking at her, but behind her, she turned to see what they were looking at and found herself face to face with another Pegasus. She gave a started squeal and dove behind Applejack.

Standing where Fluttershy just occupied were five ponies, two Pegasus ponies, a Unicorn, and two Earth ponies. They seemed awfully confused at the group of mares standing in the middle of the road.

Breaking the staring contest, Applejack stepped forward. "Ya'll must be the ponies moving into Ponyville." When they nodded she smiled. "Well then allow me to give ya'll a warm welcome. Name's Applejack, and these are my friends, Rarity, Spike, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie." Each pony and dragon waved as their name was said.

The pony facing them, standing in the middle of their group, smiled. "Well a howdy to you too, Applejack." The mares and Spike blinked at the southern accent coming from the colt and they all glanced at Applejack. "Name's Cider, and these are ma brothers, Onyx, Blur, Caper, and Concord."

The group of ponies stared at the newcomers. Cider was an Earth pony with a straw colored body and golden hair that stuck up in front, giving it an unkempt look about it. Onyx was a dark grey Unicorn pony with a long black mane that was tied up in a pony tail. Blur was one of the two Pegasus ponies, the other being Concord. Blur was floating on his back, a bored look on his face. He was a bright yellow color and his hair was short and spiked up, orange in color. Concord had a strong green body but his hair was braided down his neck, one strand purple with the other blue. Caper was the other Earth pony other than Cider, seen rocking back and forth and looking around at the town. His body was red and his hair hanging down in a golden sheet.

The mares stared at the colts, a…familiar feeling coming from the other group. But before the matter could be delved into, a streak of rainbow came out of nowhere and landed in between the two groups. When the dust cleared, Rainbow Dash stood as impressively as she could.

"Hah! How was that?! Bet you never seen anything like that before." She grinned triumphantly.

Most of the new ponies grinned at the talent that Rainbow Dash showed for it was true, none of them had ever seen someone appear out of a rainbow. However one of them just looked on with the same bored expression he had before.

"Is that it?" Blur said from his still laid back position in the air, wings flapping slowly to stay aloft. "I mean the rainbow was…unique but you weren't THAT fast…"

Rainbow Dash immediately went from triumphant to fierce. "Oh yeah?! You think you can do better?!"

Blur smirked. "I don't think, little mare, I know I can. Just calm down."

Rainbow Dash growled and snorted like a bull seeing red. "Once around Ponyville. First one back wins."

Blur's smirk just grew wider. "I'm giving you a chance to save face, little mare. You'd best take it."

"READYSETGO!" Rainbow Dash shouted and sped off at high speeds, nothing but a multicolored blur, though only to be followed by a streak of yellow.

Cider smacked his forehead with a hoof. "Oh, for crying out loud…" Cider looked over as Mayor Mare joined the group of ponies.

"Do you colts need to be shown around the town and where you'll be staying?" she asked with a smile on her face.

"We'll be ok, madam mayor." Cider smiled.

"Yeah, if they need help we'll be more than happy to show them around." Applejack smiled too.

"We will?" Rarity looked up from her stitching in surprise and only then noticed Onyx staring at her work. "What is it? Is there something on my face?"

Onyx shook his head and pointed at the cloth she was working on. "You missed a stitch…quite a few stitches actually."

"Why, I'd never-" Rarity started before stopping herself. She checked her cloth…just to be sure. And to her surprise the colt was right. She had missed a couple stitches near the middle, probably when Rainbow Dash and Blur had their little argument. Then she felt another magical pull taking the materials from her and looked up to see Onyx working the thread and needle. "Hey wait a moment! What do you think you're doing?!" She yanked the cloth back and checked to see if she could repair the damage that both she and the colt had made…only to find that there was no damage, even her own mistakes had disappeared.

Rarity's mouth fell open and she looked up at Onyx, who just smiled and followed Cider as the straw colored pony started off with Applejack.

"Uh…Rarity? Are you ok?" Spike asked, waving a hand in front of Rarity's face, though he gained no reaction from the white Unicorn.

Only when a loud horn sounded next to her ear did Rarity fall out of her trance, almost literally too as she was forced to step back from the loud sound. "Pinkie Pie that's not funny!"

"What're you talking about, I'm over here!" Rarity looked around in confusion and saw Pinkie Pie bouncing along with Cider, Onyx, and Applejack.

Rarity blinked and looked to where the airhorn sounded and saw Caper holding the horn that made the loud sound, cackling and racing off to join his brothers.

"Am I the only one who finds this strange…?" Rarity looked towards Spike and Fluttershy. They both shook their heads.

"Are they really all brothers?" Fluttershy asked.

"And weren't there supposed to be six of them?" Spike added.

"Well we're not actually brothers…" The three turned around to see Concord still floating there. He smiled gently. "We're all best friends though. Come on, or we'll be left behind." He reached over and took Fluttershy by the hoof.

At first Fluttershy was worried that she'd be yanked off like when Rainbow Dash pulled her anywhere and was surprised to feel a gentle tug instead. Glad for a change in pace, Fluttershy followed the rest of the group.

"But, what about the sixth pony?" she asked timidly.

"Oh Daybreak?" Concord gave Fluttershy a soft smile as he posed the question. "He got here on the train before us. He's probably looking for the closest place to find a book right now."

* * *

Back at Twilight's house, she was still pouring over the book that Spike had left her with. When she heard the door open behind her she didn't even look up from her book.

"How were the other ponies, Spike?" she asked, flipping a page of her book. She got no answer, only the sound off hoof beats and the sound of a book being pulled from one of the shelves. She blinked and finally looked up from her book, turning around. "Spike?"

The one she saw wasn't a dragon, or anyone she'd ever seen before. Instead it was a deep purple colt with hair a lighter shade of purple containing a strip of red. He glanced up and noticed Twilight's stunned expression on her face.

"Sorry…my name's Daybreak, not Spike."

"Hey! What're you doing here? You can't just come into someone's house and read their books." Twilight ran up and yanked the book from Daybreak.

Daybreak raised an eyebrow. "But this is a library isn't it? Wouldn't that mean it's for the public to use?"

"It USED to be a library but since no one used it I made it my home." Twilight explained, putting the book back on the shelf.

"You live in a library…?" he paused before shrugging. "I can think of worse places to live." He looked to another shelf and used his magic to pull another book down. "Besides who are you to turn a public library into your house? What makes you so special?"

"Don't you know who I am?! I am Twilight Sparkle, Princess Celestia's number one student!" She took the second book from Daybreak as well.

Daybreak gave an exasperated sigh. "Who cares?! Just because no one here used the library you just claim the whole thing as your own? Look, I'm not going to bother you and I don't want you bothering me. I just want a book to read and it's not like you'll be reading more than one at the same time." He pulled yet another book down and flipped it open, reading its contents.

Twilight fumed, putting back the two books she had. "…Ooooh…fine! But if you bother me once I'm kicking you out!" She looked back at Daybreak to see him with his back to her, the book placed on the floor and his eyes roaming the pages.

Surprised to see the colt living up to his word and simply reading, Twilight went back to her desk to continue her studies. Even though she looked over her shoulder every now and then to check on the colt, he never moved from where he sat, simply flipping the pages to the book or levitating another one off the shelf and placing the old one back. She never thought she'd meet another pony who liked reading just as much as she did. And if she wasn't so engrossed in reading she'd maybe even go approach him. But for now there was still much reading to be done so she just let the colt be.


End file.
